A Very New Year at Hogwarts
by Alethianess
Summary: A character named Alethia is in here, but supposedly she was there all along, just never mentioned ;). (By the way, my pen name is after her, not the other way around.)Please R&R.


Lily and James were leaning on each other against the trunk of a large oak tree. It was the end of summer and the beginning of another school year at Hogwarts, thank God. Last summer had been awful.

Lily's crimson hair was sprayed over James's steady shoulder. Her head was nestled between his neck and chin, staring forward into space. She pulled up her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tight around them, while James's legs laid spread on the grass, somewhat lopsided.

"Was it awful?" Lily asked, concerned. James had been forced to spend the whole summer with his mom, while his lucky sister Emily got shipped off to the Sirius' house.

The Black's had tried to house James as well, but Mrs.Potter wouldn't hear of it.

"Well, other than being beaten with a stick all the time, no. Actually, I quite enjoyed getting bruised."

Lily lifted her head and stared into his eyes, a small cold fire burning.

"Can't you take anything seriously?" She asked. "This is not exactly a joke."

"Not exactly." Seeing Lily's expression he feigned a look of seriousness."Of course I can take something seriously! Remember last year when Briachatory took over Sirius's mind?" James gave his white-toothed smile.

"Other than life or death situations please," Lily sighed, leaning her head back on his snug limb.

"Or when Sirius, Remus and I spend a whole week trying to find a way to put ten charms on Snivelly at once?"

Lily sighed again. This might take a while. Try a whole year.

Alethia stood at the dormitory window looking out at the distracting foliage rather than work on her overdue Charms essay. She saw the two lovebirds cuddling under her tree. Yes, it was hers, and no one else's. She spent 80 of her Hogwarts time up in her favorite branch, whether the time was free or not. But not today. Today she was red and clogged. One of her nostrils kept running while the other one was acting as if it were the Hoover Dam. Her nose was bright red from sneezing and just being cold. Her forehead and cheeks were burning and her throat hurt so much she could barely speak, nevermind eating.

Yet, she refused to go to the Hospital wing. Not because she was afraid she would be embarrassed, but the fact the she was as stubborn as a griffin and was convinced she could handle it herself.

Nice way to start off the year.

Then there was the looming feeling of terror that had washed over the other day, and it had stayed put.

She had not reason why she had thought of such terrible things in the first place, but she was worried about it. Specifically, she was worried about:  
· James and Emily having to deal with their mother  
· Being hurt by her abusive ex-boyfriend who had been hinting about revenge all last year.  
· James and Lily- actually she wasn't worried as much as she was surprised. James and Lily! She had a feeling this combination wouldn't work out well. She wasn't any less excited for them though. They seemed very happy for the time being. Alethia just couldn't bear seeing any broken hearts.  
· The fact that every time she saw Sirius, surprise or not, her stomach and heart jumped, against her will. She was still in denial that anything between them was going on. Even if she did admit to herself she liked Sirius, (which she did occasionally) there was no way he could ever like her back. Why choose the girl next door when you can have the pick of the neighborhood?  
· Remus. It was a full moon tonight, and she was afraid Remus was showing signs a little to early for him to get through the day. She couldn't tell anyone she noticed though, because no one knew she had found out he was a werewolf. But how could she not have? When you know someone from birth, you tend to notice these things.  
· Tests. Her O.W.L.S had come back last year and they weren't looking so bright.

So, basically, Alethia was scared life would end by the third week of Hogwarts.

In fact, Alethia did have reason to worry about Remus. He had just spent the last hour stumbling through the many twisting halls of Hogwarts, desperately searching for a water fountain, when in fact he had passed many of them already. Five minutes later, he had completely forgotten his pursuit, and in spite his constant double checking of himself, proceeded to stumble towards the hospital wing.

Sirius slipped through the opening he had made in the doorway for himself. He had finally done it! That was his seventh detention that day, and that was the seventh detention he had abandoned without one teacher even noticing. He had broken his own personal record. The only question now was where he was to go. He decided to head toward the Gryffindor Common Room to a) check if Alethia was still there and b) to convince her to go to the hospital wing and if not c) drag her there. He ended up taking a detour though when he thought he had heard footsteps behind him. Of course, it was his imagination, but he never was too sure about Hogwarts. His run-in with the Professor last year was none to pleasant….

Remus was almost running to the hospital wing now. Despite pleading his body to turn back and avoid the inevitable examination that would occur if he were to even enter the hospital wing, his body held it's own, and dragged him along. He was very near to fainting, and his vision was so blurred, only his familiarity with the school was telling him where to go. Suddenly, in what would have been humorous if not for the situation, Remus bumped into Sirius, was flung to the side where he hit the wall, and then proceeded to fall towards the floor. Sirius had caught him just in time before he had fallen all the way flat on his face.

"Dude, where were you going?" Sirius asked him, knowing his condition was continually worsening.

"Haha, Dude, like 'Dude, Where's My Car!'" Remus said, chuckling at his delirious joke.

"What the Hell is that?"

"A Muggle movie." Remus said laughing.

"Oh." Sirius replied, not getting the joke. " Tell me where you were going." Sirius said, getting back to the main question. He was wondering why Remus was around the castle tonight. He was supposed to be inside this late. In fact, James and Peter were supposed to be waiting outside, but he doubted it, both James and Peter had been part of his ploy to get seven detentions.

"Going? Going? Gone! I was gone to the Hospital Room!" Remus said. He followed it with a low growl. Random hairs started spurting from his skin. "Look, Sirius! I'm shedding!"

Remus was starting worry Sirius, he usually wasn't like this when he was transforming. What had he been doing before it started? Why had he been so stupid to stay inside so long? What in the God's name had made him think it was okay to go to the hospital room?

"Remus, you're not going to the hospital room. You need to be somewhere safe. We can't go outside now though, too many students still on break.." Sirius sighed realizing what he was going to have to pull off. "Remus, listen closely, we're going to the Gryffindor Common room."


End file.
